Sweet Tea

If you’ve never been to the South, you may not appreciate the importance of this recipe. For those who live in the southeastern part of the USA, “sweet tea” is a unique regional beverage, and they consume copious amounts of it. For me, it’s a guilty pleasure, completely different from the unsweetened iced tea available in the rest of the country.

12 tea bags of black tea — such as Luzianne, Rose’s, or Lipton
1 gallon water
1 to 1-1/2 C sugar
Ice
Lemon wedges

Bring 6 C of water to a boil in a saucepan and remove from heat. Place the tea bags in the water and let steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags, squeezing them into the tea. Stir in the sugar.

Pour the tea into a 1-gallon pitcher and add the remaining cold water.

To serve, fill a tall glass with ice and pour the tea over it. Garnish with a lemon wedge.